Carl Wagner spends his spare time designing, building and launching model rockets

Sunday

Apr 27, 2008 at 12:01 AMApr 27, 2008 at 10:09 AM

Rockets have fascinated Carl Wagner since he was a young boy. Having closely followed the early years of America’s space program in the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s, the Raisin Township supervisor and retired fire chief spends a great deal of time these days designing, building and launching model rockets.

David Frownfelder

Rockets have fascinated Carl Wagner since he was a young boy. Having closely followed the early years of America’s space program in the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s, the Raisin Township supervisor and retired fire chief spends a great deal of time these days designing, building and launching model rockets.

“The guys in the (model rocket) club call me the recycling guy,” he said with a chuckle. “I build rockets out of just about any container you can recycle.”

Wagner was pictured on the cover and featured in a story in the March/April edition of Sport Rocketry Magazine, a national publication that is also sold in Canada. He is pictured holding one of his self-designed rockets, a lightweight, 6-foot tall projectile made from recycled plastic jugs and thick cardboard tubing.

“You can buy kits, but I like sitting down and designing them myself,” Wagner said. “It takes me a couple of hours to work one out before I start building it. If you can think of it and you can draw it, it will fly.”

“He works on them almost every night,” his wife, Kathryn said. “He comes down here (to the basement) and spends hours working on them.”

Wagner is a member of the Model Rocket Club of Jackson. The club has more than 50 members in the Lenawee, Jackson and Hillsdale counties area. Wagner said they meet at least once a month — usually on the second Saturday of the month in warm weather — to discuss, show off and launch their creations.

The club will meet this spring near Gate Three at Michigan International Speedway in the Irish Hills. The wide open space at the track gives the group a large area for their launches.

Wagner had drifted away from his interest in rockets until a few years ago, when his son, Steven, talked with him and the pair discovered a mutual interest. He has returned to the pastime with relish.

“I did this way back when I was a kid, but then got away from it while raising my family,” Wagner said. “My son, Steve, got me back into it.”

Since rekindling his passion for rocketry, Wagner has had 186 launches and only 18 of what he called failures. A failure, to his way of thinking, is a rocket that is damaged during or after landing. Wagner is pleased to note every one of his creations has had a successful liftoff.

One of his launches in March resulted in the rocket soaring about 2,700 feet in the air with the parachute deploying at the apogee. But the yellow and blue craft was damaged after a perfect landing when the wind caught hold of the parachute and dragged the craft across the field strewn with corn stubble. He has since repaired the projectile and it is ready again for flight.

In making his rockets, Wagner has used plastic juice jugs, pretzel jars and water jugs. Pretty much anything made of plastic or sturdy cardboard that is recyclable can be turned into a rocket. A computer software program allows Wagner to take his time in designing a model rocket. Once the design is finished, it is just a matter of putting the craft together and painting it.

He buys his rocket engines at Hobby Lobby, where prices begin at
$3 for a small engine that is good for one firing. Fuel is also purchased over the Internet, Wagner said.

Wagner has launch pads that can handle six rockets, which are launched one at a time in wide open fields and often with a colorful burst of power. He especially enjoys sharing his passion for rocketry with others.

“They can hit 275 miles per hour off the pad,” Wagner said. “I thoroughly enjoy what I’m doing.”

Sometime in May, he plans to launch his latest self-designed craft. On April 5, the rocket was an idea and a pile of jugs, cardboard and rocket parts. Wagner will spend the next month constructing and testing the rocket.